In a typical industrial laundry facility, clean laundry (such as uniforms, linens, and towels) is moved from place to place in large bags that are transported by an automated material handling system. For example, clean laundry may be discharged from a washing machine into such a bag, and then moved to a dryer and deposited in the dryer. Clean laundry also may be discharged from a dryer into such a bag, and then moved to a folding station and deposited at the folding station.
The top of each laundry bag typically is left open, which exposes clean laundry to dirt, dust, lint, and other particulates that are ambient in the industrial laundry facility. The presence of dirt, dust, lint, and other particulates in clean laundry reduces customer satisfaction and presents a potential health hazard if the end user of the laundered uniforms, linens, and/or towels is allergic to or otherwise sensitive to such things.
Moreover, in order to control dirt, dust, lint, and other ambient particulates, a typical industrial laundry facility undergoes periodic “blowdowns,” where the machinery and structural elements of the industrial laundry facility are exposed to pressurized air for the purpose of directing the dirt, dust, lint, and other particulates to a collection station where the dirt, dust, lint, and other particulates can be removed from the industrial laundry facility. While the “blowdown” process is effective in reducing the presence of dirt, dust, lint, and other particulates in the industrial laundry facility, it may have the side effect of temporarily exposing the open laundry bags to an even greater concentration of dirt, dust, lint, and other particulates, which may exacerbate customer dissatisfaction as well as the aforementioned health hazards.
For the foregoing reasons, it is desired to provide a system for reducing the exposure of clean laundry to ambient dirt, dust, lint, and other particulates.